KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 — The interest for conventional loans as well as profit on Islamic financing will not be compounded during a moratorium period for retail and SME customers, HSBC Malaysia announced tonight.

HSBC Malaysia comprises HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad and HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad.

In a statement, HSBC Bank Malaysia CEO Stuart Milne, said, "We empathise with everyone who is currently going through a challenging time here in Malaysia due to the Covid-19 outbreak and therefore we have taken the decision for retail and SME customers — both the interest for conventional loans as well as profit on Islamic financing will not be compounded during the moratorium period, we hope this proactive effort will help ease the financial burden of our retail and SME customers.”

He added that this extra measure goes above and beyond the loans/financing deferment measures announced by Bank Negara Malaysia today where interest will still be accrued and compounded for conventional loans (excluding hire purchase loans) but profit from Islamic financing is accrued but not compounded.

The moratorium applies only to non-impaired accounts and all loans/financing outstanding as at April 1, 2020, Milne added.

As for corporate customers, Milne said HSBC Malaysia will review any request on a case-by-case basis.

HSBC Malaysia said more information and details on the measure will be available by April 1.

In the meantime, retail customers are advised to refer to www.hsbc.com.my/help/coronavirus/ while SME customers are asked to contact their HSBC relationship managers for more updates.